I slammed into the top of the column that my workshop stood on with a yelp, nearly breaking one of my legs. The fight with Eunice took everything out of me, drained me like a sponge.

“H-help,” I groaned as I started to slide sideways across the rocky outcropping.

Isahcs rushed to grab me before I rolled off the edge.

I thanked him and glanced at the shimmering, smoking deathshawl.

I took my backpack off and put it down on the flat ground, then I made Saccy open the entrance petals wide.

The dark grey chimera teenager’s eyes went wide as Lambert, Antoine, Anniya, Voltara, Emerald and Agatha stepped out of the bag one by one.

“Jumbari!” He yelped, retreating backwards.

“Relax, cousin - these are my human... hunters. They’re here to help me save my sister - to do what you cannot,” I said in Tokimorimïtul language.

“B-but… but humans hunt chimera for our c-cores!” Isahcs stumbled over his words, his face aghast with fear.

“Those were lies of our former village cendai,” I hissed tiredly.

“Former?” My cousin blinked.

“I’m the new cendai of Tokimorimïtul,” I said. “I... um... exiled Eunice into the Chasm for her crimes. Lower your bloody bow! My humans aren’t a threat. Most of the human Empire doesn't even know that chimera exist. When they did - they didn’t even hunt us down. Humans are a highly civilized species with many rules of noble conduct! They're not all savages as you were led to believe.”

“Uh… I see,” Isahcs blinked, lowering his bow obediently.

Lambert, Anniya and Antoine lifted their armaci, aiming them at the giant, glistening monster. They pulled power from the dragonheart and rays of invisible repulsor fire struck against the deathshawl. The thing rippled angrily and manifested a shield that blocked the rays.

“Here we go again,” I said, bringing up Endy. My hands were trembling.

Voltara was now wearing a very thick coat. She poured a few bags of white baking soda over herself and me. She put me on her shoulders and Emerald and Agatha covered us in layers upon layers of oiled rags powdered with baking soda. Voltara huffed as the princesses hung baking soda bags all over her until the maid and I were practically covered in them head to toe.

“You good, Volty?” I asked.

“I’ll live,” she said. “This is way more fun than serving rich idiots tea. I've been dreaming of murdering monsters down here forever! Onwards?”

“Onwards!” I said, aiming Endy ahead of us.

Voltara took off. She really was a tank - her Vitality maxing made her carrying capacity absolutely ridiculous. We were at the monster’s side in seconds.

Endy slammed into the deathshawl’s shield and it popped. A blast of acid poured around us with a hiss. Voltara took another step forward. As I thrust my arm forward Endy finally popped the gargantuan slime, dousing us in torrents of acid.

Windspells fired from Anniya's and Lambert's armaci blasted the top layer of acid off the cliffside and from our bodies.

In about ten more minutes we were completely clean of acid. I stared at my former workshop with sad, watering eyes. It looked half-eaten, completely and utterly ruined.

Alessi emerged from within. She froze when she saw my companions.

“H-humans?!” she gaped.

Sounds of numerous chimera feet slammed into the cliff behind us.

“Jumbari!” the chimera hunters aimed their bows.

“You… brought humans to Tokimorimïtul?!” My father howled, his rage-filled, yellow eyes staring at me. “You… how could you?!”

“Dad, put down your bow,” I said. “I… killed Eunice. I’m the new high-cendai of Tokimorimïtul. Did you not see the explosion? Her garden and home is no more. She destroyed my home and got what she deserved. She was eating chimera souls. It’s over now. I’m hereby ending her rule. We can work with humans - they aren’t monsters that Eunice led us to believe. These humans obey and follow me. They won’t hurt you.”

Horrified chimera eyes stared at me and my small group of friends. My father looked at the distant, demolished cliffside that formerly housed Eunice’s skull.

“Long reign the arch-cendai Juni Tokimorimïtul!” Alessi suddenly bowed to me, coming down onto her knees.

“Long reign the arch-cendai Juni Tokimorimïtul!” Isahcs repeated her action.

“Long reign the arch-cendai Juni Tokimorimïtul!” Emerald declared giddily in very bad Tokimorimïtul, bowing to me with far too much excitement painted on her face.

Agatha followed, looking absolutely like she didn’t want to do it. Antoine, Lambert, Anniya and Voltara bowed too without saying anything, since they didn't know our language.

The gesture seemed to put the chimera hunters at ease and their armed bows began to lower.

I stared at my father. He wasn't budging. The chimera part of my patchwork soul nudged me forward. Juni knew exactly what to say. Chimera obeyed the Alpha. I had to show them that I was the new, absolute leader of the village.

“Bow,” I said tiredly, pulling my nightcrawler helmet off my face and igniting my eyes from within. “Accept me as your new arch-cendai or I will show you my power. Anyone standing against me will be banished into the Chasm with my magic... permanently.”

"You are a mere stripling, barely four winters old!" One of the chimera hunters growled.

I lifted my arm and fired a repulsor ray at him, powered by the nearly empty dragonheart.

The hunter fell with a scream, clawing at his chest. His bow fell from his arms and clattered into the Chasm.

"Anyone else wants to be an idiot?" I asked.

My father went down on his knees with a loud declaration of the affirmation of my ascension. The rest of the hunters followed suit.

"What will happen to us, my cendai?" He asked, looking broken and confused.

"I'm relocating our entire village to a human town," I said. "All of you will live with humans, cooperate with them and learn from them!"

"W-what?!" Acadius sputtered. "You want everyone to relocate… higher? To live with the humans?!"

The other chimera grumbled in disapproval.

"This is my will as the new arch-cendai," I said sternly. "I've seen enough chimera die to giant monsters. It is an unnecessary waste. It is time for us to cooperate with humanity. You will all learn Basq and work with the humans! Eunice dragged the entire tribe thousands of rings up through the Chasm. All I want is to take you a single level up!"

My father gulped. "I... don't understand. They won't just take our cores or hair by force?"

"They won't know that you have cores. Nobody has any idea that your hair has value," I said. "I'll bring you in as my human warriors, tell them that you were modified by my magic."

Yellow eyes glanced at Lambert.

"These humans do not understand what I am saying. They are the leaders and protectors of a small village called Lomb," I explained. "They will make sure that you have a safe place to live. You won't have to hunt chimera-eating monsters anymore."

"We won't? What will we do then?" My father asked, looking aghast.

"She's taking our livelihood away from us!" his expression said.

"Um.... You will all serve me as you served Eunice," I said. "I will take a bit more of an active role as your cendai in some aspects and less in others. I will not devour your souls at thirty three - instead I will require your hair cut off and given to me. I will sell it to humans I trust and buy you whatever is necessary for making your lives easier."

"Are you forcing us to work for another species?" One of the hunters grumbled. "You wish to turn us into a servant class?!"

"No," I shook my head. "You will be working for me and you will get to boss humans around. There is a very messy place full of problems which requires chimera chorus-wisdom, patience, focus and strength to clean up. It's called Undertown."

"I see," my father said. The other chimera looked less annoyed with me now, my explanation had pacified their fears.

"Also, Alessi will teach all of you magic," I added a cherry atop of the cake. "All of you will be able to cast spells in time, just like me."

"Magic?" The hunters mulled, their eyes wide.

"Yes," I nodded. "Every chimera will be able to do magic in the town of Lomb. Eunice kept you ignorant, lied to you, because she wanted you weak. I want to uplift you - to make all of you a coordinated power to be reckoned with. If you become magically strong, evil individual humans will be unable to steal your magic-rich hair. Alessi will teach you the basics - she will show you how to Still your body to conserve energy and how to remember things generations back. When you do - you will all recall the evils Eunice has done to you. Afterwards, I will teach you to cast spells."

I saw that the stern faces of the gathered men lit up in poorly-concealed excitement. Never in their lives had they dreamed of doing magic!

"Follow my lead and you will all rise to new, glorious heights!" I declared with fierce determination. "Under my tutelage, you will all grow stronger, wiser, faster. Monsters of the abyss will fear our glorious tribe! The hunt lives in my blood too, just as it does in yours! Someday in the future we will be able to hunt down all abominations that have taken lives of our ancestors! When each of you is armed with magic, you will be able to take down dragons a thousand times our size, torch down the Folding Forest, challenge the gods of the deep and rule the Infinite Chasm!"

Sounds of cheers and noisy jubilation now surrounded me. I smiled. I understood them, offered them exactly what they wanted - the ultimate hunt and the call for revenge against our ancient enemies.

"V-very well, my cendai," my father bowed. "I shall begin preparations for the relocation."

I turned back to my friends as the hunters departed.

"I understood some of that," Agatha squinted at me. "You're relocating the chimera to Lomb? They're going to be your... subjects?"

"They're the start of my own Barony," I nodded. "My own force that will help me secure and reorganize Undertown. As much as I hate taking charge of them, If Eunice returns here I don't want her to have anything of value. If she tries to take them from me in Illatius, I'll have the law on my side."

I looked at Anniya who nodded back at me in affirmation of her support.

"How many chimera are in this village?" She asked.

"Over two thousand," I replied.

"We don't have this many farmhouses to rent, nor the resources to build so many houses." She frowned.

"Chimera are used to living in caves. All of them are fit and capable as Eunice ate the souls of sick, weak or old chimeras. Only some families get to live in dragonskulls. I've already thoroughly checked the caves beneath Lomb facing the chasm - they're pretty nice, clean and pest-free," I said. "I wouldn't mind living in one myself."

"I see," Agatha mulled. "Well then, I welcome the new addition to the population of Lomb. I hope they won't break our laws."

"Chimera are a pack species and by right of conquest I am the new Alpha," I scratched my aching chest. "They'll do whatever I tell them - we can thank Eunice for breeding absolute obedience into them for millennia. Also, they have exceptional memories thanks to Engram... err chorus-memory magic. Just give me a list of laws and my sister will help other chimera memorize them."

"Sounds too good to be true," Anniya smiled.

"I feel pretty bad about draining your dragonheart," I said. "Lomb will need extra protection now that its shield won't be as effective."

"True," Anniya nodded. "How's the heart, Antoine?"

"From what I saw while I was in the bag... it's bad," Antoine mulled. "Most of the control hexagrams and power cells got overheated or are burned out completely. It will take me a while to repair the engine. That chimera... Eunice was a serious powerhouse. Lets hope we won't have to fight another archmage like that anytime soon."

"Dawn? Any chances of us getting into further trouble soon?" I asked.

"Hmmm... I can't see your future... as for everyone else... things seem safe for another day," Dawn commented from my chest. "I really did not expect this turn of events. I was worried because fixing up Undertown without a dedicated task force would be utterly impossible. You gaining an entire battalion of flying warriors will go far in solving upcoming problems. You'll have to teach me their language so that I can coordinate them better."

"Definitely," I nodded with a yawn. "After a nice, relaxing break. I'm freaking beat."

"Don't forget - you have a meeting with Baroness Amadea tomorrow," Dawn said. "If it goes wrong - everyone here ends up dead or injured horribly."

I groaned as a response - I had no idea how the two-hundred year old chimera high-cendai would react to me kicking her Master down a notch.

"Aggie, what do you think your mother will do once she learns that I cast her Goddess into the Chasm?" I asked.

"I don't know," Agatha said. "She could be very happy or very furious about it... it's hard to tell these things with her sometimes. She will definitely fly her warship here to assess the damage. Once she discovers that you took every chimera under your wing, she will definitely attempt to challenge you for the title of their cendai, try to take them away from you by force."

"How is she going to know what I did?" I asked.

"She has Precogs and Scrutimancers on staff, that's how," Agatha replied. "It won't take her very long to figure out that you were responsible for stealing all of the chimera from Eunice."

"She will bring human Scritimancers here?" I blinked. "Seriously?"

Agatha looked at me like I was an idiot.

"Scritimancers working for seedy or aristocratic clientele simply get their memories wiped after their investigation is concluded," she explained. "It's a common procedure that comes with the job of investigating very dangerous secrets."

"Argh," I groaned. "Maybe I could just hide from her in Nemendias, reschedule our meeting till I feel less like a bag of rattling bones? If she challenges me tomorrow for the title of arch-cendai and I'm this drained, she will snap me like a toothpick. Isn't Nemmy supposed to protect her flock or something? It worked for you, right? Have you ever had a fight with Baroness Amadea and tried to hide from her at Nemendias?"

Agatha sent me an annoyed glare.

"Yes," she said after a long pause. "I have... when I was young and very stupid. It didn't work out for me. The Keeper of Keys found me, shot me with a paralyzing spell and dragged me by the scruff to the Meeting Tower where Mother gave me a long, painful lecture about my future and obedience. Pretty sure the Dean helped too - the two are in cahoots."

"The Meeting Tower?" I asked.

"Parents or Scholarship Patrons are allowed to yell at students there if they aren't performing well. Some return from it with bruises. If a student's grades are bad, highborn parents or the scholarship reps come there to slap some sense into a disobedient spawn who thinks too highly of themselves," Agatha sighed. "Nemendias does not protect her flock in that room."

"Gotcha," I rubbed my chin thoughtfully.

Emerald stared at me excitedly, expecting me to produce a wacky plan that would end her Mother's reign as Baroness.

"Stop looking at me like I'm the tastiest candy in the universe," I said tiredly to her. "I got nothing to beat Amadea."

The little, green-eyed princess rolled her eyes at me. After my performance with Eunice, she was overly confident of my god-killing abilities.

To be completely honest, I was so magically and physically exhausted that I could barely hurt a fly. I noticed that Voltara was holding me firmly by the side so that I wouldn't keel over.

I learned fully into her with a sad murmur.

"Volty, please carry me back to Galissi or something," I outputted, closing my heavy eyes.

"How?" Voltara blinked. "You flew all of us here."

I swore when I realized that there was no way that I could fly everyone back to second level. The chimera hunters were gone, so asking them for help was out of the question.

"Whatever," I exhaled, too tired to think of a solution.

"Are we... stuck here?" Emerald asked, looking around the melted dragonskull and ridiculously tall, gray basalt column it sat on.

"Deal with it," I said with another yawn. "You're all adult wizards - figure it out. I'm going to have a power-nap on Volty's lap. Goodnight!"